Coded Resistance and Models of Enlightenment

Series:

Buero Vallejo was not only a dramatist who opposed Francoism, but also totalitarian and Fascist structures per se. He did not purely oppose, he also proposed models of enlightenment to overcome these oppressive structures, models which were not only valid for Spain of the dictatorship but also for the democracy. The messages of his plays are applicable to any modern Western society. Through immersion effects, he challenges readers and authors to experience, reflect upon and break down repressive structures within them. He was and remains an author of our times in his permanent concern for the cause of enlightenment of mankind.

Contents: Buero Vallejo and his age – The motifs of prison, totalitarianism, and «huis clos» in Buero’s early plays
– From light to enlightenment and from vision to reform: Un soñador para un pueblo and El concierto de San Ovidio
– Committed art. The rebellion of the artist against absolutism and totalitarianism: Las meninas and El sueño de
la razón – Death and triumph of art: La detonación (1977) – Conclusion.